OPINION: Consider cannabis as an alternative treatment for opioid addiction

Thursday

I’ve lost more than a dozen friends in the last decade to opiate addiction. Like many towns in the commonwealth, mine was ravaged by opioids. There have been years so bad that the simple tone of one’s voice when asking a question like, “Hey, did you hear about so-and-so?” were subsequently concluded with news of someone’s death. Funerals have become class reunions.

The use of cannabis in opioid detoxification has always been part of the conversation, but recently, I’ve noticed more attention being focused on cannabis’ role in slowing down an opiate addiction flood unmoved by other treatments. I have always been an advocate for this, because it works, period.

I can understand how an individual without much knowledge of cannabis could disregard any usefulness for the simple fact that it’s considered a drug by others.

It turns out that pharmaceuticals — not cannabis as people have claimed for decades — are the gateway drug. And the gates have been left open for a very long time. Ironically, cannabis may be one of the safest and most-effective aids in reducing or giving up opioids.

Opioid addiction is a disease that has been spreading like wildfire in both cities and suburbs. It’s indiscriminate of gender, race or class. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about a third of the U.S. population suffers from chronic debilitating pain -- more than any other developed country. Yet we consume more than 80 percent of the global supply of prescription opioids. Our country has become so addicted to opioids that the life expectancy of Americans has decreased two years in a row.

It’s not just overdoses that are killing people; suicide rates among opioid addicts is also staggering. Addicts become trapped, their lives dictated by the drug. The party ended a long time ago, reduced to a one-person race without a finish line -- trying to get ahead of the withdrawal sickness and feel a high which can no longer be reached.

For many opioid addicts wanting to get clean, the vision of a brighter future is easily obscured by the unavoidable, uncomfortable withdrawal period needed for the drugs to leave your body, and for the brain’s natural opioid receptors to regenerate.

There are several FDA-approved opioid replacement therapies and maintenance medications used to help ease withdrawal symptoms and transition off of opioids. Medications such as methadone or buprenorphine are the most common. Ironically, the same company the formulated OxyContin also created Suboxone, the most commonly prescribed opioid replacement. But these treatments are also extremely addictive themselves and don’t seem to aim toward long-term wellness, as much as day-to-day survival.

And, for addicts, they’ve had enough of living day to day.

Opioid replacement medications are important, often life-saving intermediaries for those in need of immediate intervention. But, when used long-term, as is often the case with Suboxone, dependence on the drug becomes equally as strong as the opioids from which they are intended to set the user free. This is where I believe cannabis can be crucial in shaping the path to sobriety.

Suboxone doesn’t get you sober, exactly. It can certainly step in and eliminate opioids from an addict’s life, but it is also extremely difficult to break free from, and many remain on the medication years after kicking their original drug addiction. With this in mind, I believe cannabis should at least be considered by doctors as a viable option in detoxing addicts. It is nonaddictive and carries little to no side effects, and there is plenty of research suggesting that cannabis can treat common symptoms of opioid withdrawal such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, muscle spasms, anxiety, agitation, restlessness and insomnia in a very safe and predictable manner.

In April 2018, two papers were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which reviewed more than five years of Medicare Part D and Medicaid prescription data. They found that after states legalized cannabis -- either medically or recreationally -- the number of opioid prescriptions and the daily dose of opioids went way down.

Previous research has pointed to a similar correlation. A 2014 paper published by JAMA found that states with medical marijuana laws had nearly 25 percent fewer deaths from opioid overdoses. New studies have emerged showing this number continuing to drop.

Cannabis is by no means the cure-all for addiction. Overcoming opioid dependency takes the will to want to get clean and stay clean. It also takes therapy and self-reflection in order to realize why you are numbing in the first place. However, I do believe cannabis can be an effective in easing the symptoms of withdrawal and reducing the chances of relapse. Cannabis also allots many a sense of perspective which can be helpful in moving forward with an overall healthier lifestyle.

Gregg Padula is an employee of GateHouse Media New England. He has experience in several areas of the cannabis industry, and now serves as an advocate for both patients' and workers’ rights. He can be reached at gpadula@wickedlocal.com.